


Cattle Call

by Schist



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - 19th Century, Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Western, M/M, Plotty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-26 18:41:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 15,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21673234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Schist/pseuds/Schist
Summary: Hux has been made redundant from the army and has to support himself somehow, even if it's just a dull cattle drive. Who could have known there would be a mysterious outlaw on the loose?
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren
Comments: 4
Kudos: 44





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> If you want a fluffy love story, this is not the fic you're looking for. You can go about your business. Move along.

“Name?”

“Armitage Hux.”

“Any previous experience of cattle driving, mr Hux?”

“Yes.”

The foreman looked up from his desk, and looked expectantly at him. The desk looked new, as did the rest of the house. There was a vague scent of sawdust in the air. 

“Empire Ranch” Hux said. 

“Haven’t heard of it.”

The foreman’s weatherbeaten face looked sceptical. Hux drew himself up. 

“Not my problem, sir” he said coldly. 

There was a moment of silence, and then the foreman chuckled and returned to his papers. 

“Can you write, mr Not-my-problem?”

“Yes of course.”

“Great. Sign here. By doing so you agree to work for Supreme Ranch for the time it takes to drive a herd of cattle assigned to you from said Supreme Ranch to Dagobah cattle market. You will be held responsible for any damage to the herd that might be caused by negligence or dereliction of duty.”

Hux signed the paper, careful not to spill the ink. 

“My co-workers?” he asked. 

“You’ll meet them when you begin. Wednesday morning, 7 o’clock sharp. You know how to tell the time?”

“I don’t know what kind of scum you’re used to working with” Hux sneered and took his clock out of his pocket. “But I come with certain standards.”

The foreman laughed.

“Very impressive” he said and Hux didn’t like how his voice dripped with sarcasm. “Then you’ll have no reason to be late. Off you go, see you wednesday.”

Hux almost saluted him before remembering that he wasn’t in the army anymore. He tried to turn the salute into a tip of his hat instead, but the hat was in his other hand so he just turned and left. He walked across the hot, dusty yard in front of the ranch house to his horse, put his hat on and mounted. 

He had two days until Wednesday to keep busy, which was somewhat of a challenge. The town closest to the ranch, Tatooine, was a dump like so many others out here. A haphazard little network of dusty streets lined with shabby buildings plopped down in the middle of the prairie, and that was it. He still missed the army. Even if it frequently involved a lot of waiting, and the selection of entertainment was rarely any better than Tatooine, it also came with a strict routine. He hadn’t realized how comforting that routine had been until it was taken away. He tried to impose similar rules on himself now, but it was hard when he didn’t have anything to do, and nobody to report to. 

He got up early the next morning, dressed with care, ate breakfast at the dingy hotel where he was staying, and then went out for a ride to get familiar with his surroundings. He wouldn’t be in the area long after the cattle drive got started, but it didn’t hurt to know the first stretch of the way. At least it would keep him busy. 

After a late lunch he spent the afternoon with a map trying to prepare for the job, and then moved on to a book on politics that he tried to find fascinating and enlightening but that eventually caused him to doze off. He woke up annoyed, because a nap was not part of the plan. 

Finally Wednesday dawned. His saddle bags were already packed the day before, as well as the suitcase he would keep on their supply wagon. He dressed with extra care to look impressive but not too fancy. He looked in the mirror and sighed, wishing he was about to do something more interesting than heard cattle for the next few weeks. Then he left, paid his hotel bill, picked up his horse at the livery and headed for the Supreme Ranch. What a stupid name for a ranch, he thought when he rode past the sign. 

With Hux they were a group of five who were leaving on the drive, including the cook who also drove the supply wagon. Hux eyed the others suspiciously. Two of them - men around his own age - he dismissed right away. Ordinary cowboys. The third one was a woman. Not especially attractive, but not unattractive either. What made her special was her size. She was at least a head taller than Hux and looked like she could easily beat him in a fight. Hux tried to calculate his chances with her while the foreman droned on about their rules and responsibilities. Having a woman on the team was risky because it could lead to competition and conflict. The best thing would be if Hux could claim her early and thus make sure none of the others gave in to temptation. 

Finally the foreman stopped talking and held out a leather envelope with the maps of the route they were supposed to take. One of the men, Hux vaguely remembered his name as Peavey, moved to take it, but Hux snatched it right in front of him. There could be no confusion about who was in command. Peavey grumbled and might have objected, but Hux put his heels to his horse and took the lead. 

“Let’s get to work” he barked and rode towards the corral where the herd was waiting. 

  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

The dust was suffocating. Hux had thought he remembered exactly how much he disliked cattle driving, but it turned out some of the details had slipped his mind. Like how the dust got in your mouth, nose and eyes so that you could neither breathe nor see. And the smell. It was like riding through a huge cloud of shit, trying to find the stupid cows in the blinding dust and get them to all run in the same direction. And as if that wasn’t hard enough, he had to get his stupid new colleagues to cooperate as well. 

He didn’t have much time to think about how much he hated it until almost two hours later when the animals had finally calmed down and the cowboys could ride in their positions surrounding the herd, the supply wagon following behind the dust cloud. Hux pulled his scarf down from his face. It was covered in dust and wet from his breath, which made it seem like it had been soaked in manure. He stuffed it in his saddle bag and wished he’d thought to pack more spares. He had another one in his suitcase, but couldn’t get to it now. He wiped his filthy hand on his pants, but they were just as filthy and he sighed in disgust. 

Peavey rode up to him, looking upset. 

“That was a disaster!” he yelled and waved his arms at the cattle, now walking peacefully across the sun-baked prairie. 

“It went fine” Hux said. 

“It didn’t! If we had been positioned correctly from the beginning, and had the lead heifer out of the corral first, it would have gone a lot smoother!”

“Bullshit” Hux said. “We were positioned correctly, and now we’re on our way. Get back to the left flank before they take off in the wrong direction.”

Peavey stared at him indignantly.

“Who made you the boss of this?”

Hux gave him a cold glare. Peavey didn’t flinch but looked a little unsure. 

“I’m an army officer  _ and  _ I have previous experience. That makes me qualified to lead beyond what your little cowboy mind could comprehend. Now get back to work!”

Peavey obeyed but he was scowling and muttering about useless _ex_ -army officers. Hux pretended he didn't hear, but later he could see Peavey talking to the other man, Cardinal. He was going to have to keep an eye on those two to prevent them from trying to take away his leadership. At least Phasma, the woman, kept to herself and did her job, riding on the right flank with a blank face. 

He hadn’t lied to the foreman; he had done cattle herding before. But it was a long time ago and he wasn’t used to the hard physical work. When the first day started to turn into evening he was tired enough to nearly fall asleep on his horse, and had to struggle not to let the others see his weakness. There was some chaos when they made camp for the night. Peavey and Cardinal complained about Hux’s orders, and arguments broke out over every little thing. Only Phasma and the cook stayed out of it. Phasma appointed herself caretaker for their horses, which Hux didn’t mind, and the driver was busy making their supper in uneasy silence. 

When supper was finally eaten, the others retreated to their tents and left Hux alone by the campfire. He didn’t mind. He had never imagined any kind of camaraderie around the fire, telling stories and singing and such ridiculous notions. He was here to do a job and earn money, and was only grateful that the morons he had to work with left him alone. But when he too retired to his tent and lay there with his aching muscles, listening to the wind flapping the tent canvas, he found himself thinking about his army days. He’d had no friends among the other officers, but there had still been some sort of belonging, in the invisible line that divided the officers from the ranks. He missed being around people he knew, where everyone knew their place. 

The next day passed much like the first. It took a little too long to get started in the morning, and Peavey accused Hux of bad leadership both in breaking camp and driving the herd. Hux kept him in check by barking rough orders and accepting no criticism, but he feared that open rebellion might not be far off. It depended on the others. Cardinal was also dissatisfied, but more of a coward. The cook seemed too frightened to do anything, but if Peavey could persuade him and Cardinal they would be three against one. Phasma still seemed indifferent, but Hux hoped he might get her on his side. 

That night after they had eaten, Hux decided to serve some of the whiskey they had in the supply wagon. He poured a tin cup and raised it to the others still sitting around the fire. 

“Here’s to getting off to a good start!” he said. “I think that's cause for celebration.”

He handed the cup to Peavey, who accepted it reluctantly, and then poured the others each in turn. Cardinal and the cook took their cups gratefully, Phasma with a polite nod. 

“I have learned from my many years leading army regiments that working with new people takes some adjustment. It isn’t always easy, but if we all do our jobs and work together, we will soon be able to deliver these animals and collect our pay.”

He smiled and raised his own cup. All but Peavey returned the toast. 

“I hope you feel that you can come to me if there is a problem” Hux said, and turned a cold glare on Peavey to make sure he understood that he meant the exact opposite. 

Peavey glared back at him, looking like the message had been received. Hux smiled and sat down, sipping his whiskey. They drank in silence while the sun started to set, painting the landscape in dramatic colors. It was beautiful. 

“This isn’t too bad” Cardinal said after the whiskey was starting to have its effect and loosening his tongue. 

“It’s a pretty night” Hux agreed. 

“I have to say, despite all the hardship, I love being out like this. I could never work indoors.”

The others nodded agreement, even Hux though he was faking.

“It’s honest work” Peavey agreed. “Under God’s open sky.”

“That’s right.”

Peavey turned to Phasma. 

“How about you, my lady?” he asked with a flirty smile that made Hux want to smash his teeth in. “How come you’re out on a job like this?”

She gave him a look that should have been able to freeze him into a pillar of ice. 

“Same reasons you are. I need to support myself, and this is a decent job.”

“You should get married” Cardinal said. “There are plenty of men who would be happy to support you!”

“And you should stay out of other people’s business if you know what’s good for you” she replied with a blank face. 

Cardinal’s mouth hung open but then he shut it and turned his attention to his whiskey. Hux looked at Phasma and felt equally aroused and afraid. He stayed for a little while longer but when Cardinal started to sing he decided it was time for bed. 


	3. Chapter 3

“Mr Hux, we’ve got a dead cow” Cardinal said when they were getting the herd started the next morning. 

“What?”

Hux was already on his horse, ready to leave. 

“It looks like coyotes. They killed it, ate part of it but couldn’t pull it away with them so it’s lying over there.”

He pointed at a place on the other side of the herd with an outcropping of rock in front of a low grassy hill. 

“Fuck.”

Every missing animal meant a pay cut when they arrived. 

“How could that happen?” he snapped. “It’s close to our campsite. How could anyone not notice?”

Cardinal shrugged. 

“We were asleep” he said. 

“We should have kept watch!”

Cardinal shrugged again.

“You’re the boss” he said. 

Hux glared at him. He was right, of course. It was his responsibility, but he had been busy quelling the impending mutiny and hadn’t thought about things like keeping guards at night. On the other hand, if the others hadn’t been such morons they might have thought of it themselves. As it was, he had to think of everything. 

While he was trying to think, Peavey and the cook came up to them. 

“We could use the fresh meat” the cook said. 

“Impossible” Hux said. “Butchering it will take half the day. We have plenty of rations.”

“I wouldn’t mind some fresh meat” Peavey said pointedly.

Hux wouldn’t either, but could he afford the delay? He tried to decide what to do, stressed by his companions’ critical looks. What he wanted most was to rid himself of bothersome cows and cowboys altogether and just ride off to somewhere else. 

“You and Peavey take the best cuts and leave the rest” he said at last to the cook. “We’ll keep moving with the herd and you’ll have to catch up as quick as you can.”

Peavey looked shocked.

“It’s too dangerous to drive the supply wagon without an escort” he said. 

“Is it now? And that gun of yours is just for show, is it?”

Hux looked at the gun at Peavey’s hip. So did the cook. Peavey looked uncomfortable. 

“Of course not” he grumbled. “But just the two of us… If our supplies are stolen the whole undertaking is in jeopardy.”

“And you will be dead” Hux pointed out. “So it won’t be your problem.”

The others went silent and Hux wondered why he had said that. 

“Send Phasma with us” Peavey said at last. 

“Absolutely not. We can’t drive the herd just two of us. If you’re too afraid to stay behind we’ll bring the carcass with us and butcher it tonight. Load it on the wagon.”

“But it will spoil in the heat!”

Hux felt his temper slip through his careful control. 

“Do you hear yourself?” he yelled. “We can’t stay behind and we can’t bring it with us? Then what do you suggest we do?”

The cook looked at him in silent terror. 

“Load it on the wagon!” Hux roared and rode off to see to the herd, and not have to look at the cook’s stupid face any longer. How hard could it be to move a bit of beef? As if it wasn’t enough that he had to work with idiots - they were work-shy and cowards as well!

All seemed well when they stopped for their mid-day meal, and they each had a thin slice of beef cooked with their beans. It was delicious, and Hux congratulated himself on the decision to take it along. The carcass stank, but the meat looked and tasted fresh. 

By late afternoon they reached a small town. There was a large corral just outside of town that was empty but showed traces of earlier cattle drives, and Hux managed to locate the owner and negotiate a deal. They could use the corral overnight, and have rooms at the local hotel, in exchange for fresh beef. 

“Cut the dead cow up and save the best parts for supper, then take the rest to the hotel” he ordered the cook. 

“It’s started to spoil” the cook said and looked at the dead animal on the wagon with a worried expression. 

Hux looked too. The animal was so bloated that it barely looked like a cow anymore, its legs sticking out in four directions. It smelled horrible. 

“Do what you can” he said and tried to hide his horror.

“We can’t feed this to anyone, it will make people sick!”

Hux had had enough. He walked up to the cook, drew his knife and put it under the man’s chin. 

“That’s enough whining from you” he said. “You do as I tell you, or you can try your luck on foot, alone in the wilderness!”

Peavey and Cardinal finished loading the cattle into the corral and walked up to see what the fuss was about. The cooks’ face screwed up as if he was going to cry and there was suddenly a sharp smell of urine in the air. Hux looked down at the man’s wet pants and sighed. 

“I’m sorry!” the cook squealed. “I’ll do my best!”

“Good” Hux said and put the knife away. “I’ll have a drink at the hotel. Peavey and Cardinal will keep watch tonight.”

Without waiting for a reply he walked into town. He came across Phasma outside a sheriff’s office that looked deserted. She was looking at the Wanted posters on the wall, and he stopped to look too. Some were too faded to read anymore, but there was one that was newer. Not new, but readable.  _ Wanted dead or alive, the outlaw gunslinger Kylo Ren. Significant traits: Tall, black hair, scar on one cheek. Award: 10000$ _ . 

“Sounds like a fairy tale” Hux said. 

Phasma snorted. 

“I’ve heard of him before” she said. “One of those outlaws riding around out there taking the law in his own hands. They say he’s a master sniper and trained from childhood as an assassin.”

“You believe that?”

“Of course not. He’s just another soldier who lost his mind in the war. Plenty of those around.”

She gave Hux a pointed look that he thought was unnecessary. He was neither soldier nor mad.

“You may buy me a drink” she added, and walked over to the saloon without waiting for his response. Hux felt a tickle of excitement in his stomach and followed her. 

The saloon was a sad place with only a few patrons drinking in silence. Hux wished he could take Phasma somewhere nice. A proper restaurant with really good food. She could wear a nice dress and a pretty necklace, and he would be in a clean suit, and they would eat and dance and she would be impressed and in awe of him. And then…

“Whiskey” Phasma said to the bartender. “Redhead’s paying.”

She pointed to Hux over her shoulder without looking at him, and he was forced to abandon his fantasy and walk up to the bar. It didn’t matter, he would make do with what was available, even if it was just a dingy saloon in the middle of nowhere and they were covered in dust and smelled like shit. 

“How did you start driving cattle?” he asked when they were both sitting at the bar with a glass of whiskey each. 

At least the glasses were clean, but the whiskey was bad. Meant to numb you rather than pleasure you. Phasma shrugged. 

“I like the freedom” she said. 

“I hate it” Hux said. “It’s too simple, and dirty.”

“So what would you rather do?”

Phasma’s eyes still looked cold and distanced, but he found the question encouraging. 

“I was in the army” he said. “But if I can’t do that I’d like to..”

“Why are you not in the army anymore?” Phasma interrupted. 

“The war ended and the US Army was broke. Most soldiers, and a lot of officers, were let go.”

“I thought you came from a fancy family. Couldn’t they just buy you another comission?”

Hux squirmed uncomfortably on his rickety stool.

“I supposed I could, but… I don’t get along well with my father.”

“How so?”

“I’d rather talk about you” Hux said with a smile, trying to charm her into a change of subject.

“I don’t want to talk about me” she said and put her empty glass down. 

She gestured at the bartender to fill it up again, and he came over and did so without a word. 

“What are you going to do that’s so much better than cattle driving?” she asked Hux. 

“I’m planning to go into politics. Get someplace to stay in Washington and start working my way up. Even if my father won’t help, I’m sure his name will.”

Phasma made a disgusted face. 

“Politics?” she said. “Why the fuck would you want to do that?”

Hux shrugged. He’d never been asked that before. Where he came from it was the obvious road to take, unless you made a career in the army.

“Influence and money” he said. “What else is there?”

“Well there’s not having to rub asses with self-important cocksuckers with money instead of brains. I’d rather roll around in manure.”

Hux didn’t know what to say to that. He finished his drink in confused silence. Phasma knocked hers back. 

“I’m getting a room for the night” she said. “And before you get any ideas: you’re not invited.”

She stood up and put her hat on.

“Thank you for the whiskey” she said with a polite nod. “See you in the morning.”

“Wait! How about dinner?”

“I’m good.”

She walked out of the saloon, and Hux’s confusion turned to disappointment, then resentment. Who did she think she was? Would it kill her to at least be a bit friendly? 

He had dinner alone - not beef - and then went to his room. He thought about Phasma a few rooms down and masturbated under his blanket. When he was done he lay in bed and tried to sleep, but thoughts of Phasma’s rejection kept him uncomfortably awake. He thought about Peavey and Cardinal having to keep watch all night, and felt a bit better. Next night he would make Phasma keep watch. 


	4. Chapter 4

They got off to a good start the next morning. Peavey and Cardinal were sullen but subdued, apparently having the night watch had done them good. It was an uneventful day that turned into an uneventful night with Phasma and Cook on watch. No one asked why Hux didn’t assign himself night watch, and there was no fuss about any of his other orders. Their spirits seemed low, but that was not a problem for Hux. They could be as miserable as they liked, as long as they obeyed and did their jobs. 

Two more days passed with nothing much happening. Hux spent more and more of his time daydreaming on his horse. He thought about his future and how he would get himself back into a position of power. What Phasma had said bothered him, but he tried not to think about it. What did she know anyway? He thought about how he would find a good woman to support him, a nice one, nothing like Phasma, and get him children. He wasn’t that old yet, there was time. 

When they came to the river, he wasn’t prepared. He should have been, should have studied the maps each night and planned their route, and then scouted ahead to find the best place to cross. Instead he was pulled out of his daydreams when the cows smelled water and started to run. 

“What the fuck is going on?” he yelled. 

“The river!” Phasma yelled back and gestured ahead. 

“Fuck! Stop them!”

The roar of running and bellowing cattle increased steadily and the dust from all those thousands of hooves spread and thickened. The cows started to disperse along the river bank to drink, which wasn’t a problem as long as they didn’t push each other in, get too far away or try to cross the river on their own. A few of them did, but eventually Hux and his colleagues managed to get the herd back under control again. Hux felt like he might fall off his horse from exhaustion when they were finally ready to start the crossing. They had found a place a bit further downstream where the water was shallower and calmer, and started to gently urge the animals into the water. 

The crossing seemed to go well at first, but only a handful of cows had reached the opposite bank and climbed into safety when Hux heard gunshots. He looked around in alarm, but couldn’t see much from his position at the back of the herd. He tried to ride around it but the water was churning, full of cows, and he was afraid his horse would lose its footing. Another gunshot rang through the din from the herd, and then a scream. He thought it might be Cardinal, but it was hard to tell. What the fuck was happening? The cows started to spread out in the water, and some of the ones still on the bank started to run along the river. The noise increased, with a hint of panic in the grunts and bellowing. Hux shouted at Phasma and Cardinal to keep them under control, but there was no answer. Helplessly he watched cows being taken by the stream and floating downriver, trampling each other or taking off down the river bank. 

He turned his horse and went back up on the bank they came from. There was a low rise nearby and he rode up on it to try and see what was going on. The first thing he saw was Peavey’s horse running without a rider on the other side of the river, adding to the general panic spreading through the herd. 

“Shit” he said. 

What was happening, had someone shot Peavey? Why? He felt a cold crippling fear start to fill him, and drew his gun. He had used it in the army, of course, but suddenly that seemed so long ago now. And who was there to shoot at? He didn’t know who the enemy was. 

A body floated slowly downstream, bobbed between struggling cows, and Hux realized it was Cardinal. Was Phasma dead too? The fear turned at least partly to anger. Someone was trying to steal his herd! Righteous fury surged through him. What an insult! Steal the herd  _ he  _ was driving?! But what to do about it was another matter entirely. He looked out over the chaos and had no idea where to begin. He didn’t know who the thieves were or even  _ where  _ they were, or if any of his team were still alive to help him. 

The herd on his side of the river was thinning out now, more and more cows making it across, and he would soon be too visible. The thieves were obviously not on this side, so he had to get across the river and find them. Hux urged his horse into the river again and tried to mingle with the herd. He leaned down over the horse’s neck so that he would be less visible. He lost his hat, but there was nothing to do about that. It simply fell off and sailed away down the river. He would take a new hat from the thieves as soon as he found them. 

He managed the crossing and looked for cover on the other side. Instead he saw Phasma, busy trying to gather the herd again. He looked around in confusion. She didn’t seem alarmed; had the thieves left? He couldn’t see anyone else. He started riding towards her, and she turned and saw him. He opened his mouth to start shouting his questions to her, but she raised a gun and shot at him. He didn’t realize what had happened at first. He saw the gun aimed at him, saw her calm, cold face, and heard the shot. He felt his horse jerk, then stagger, but it wasn’t until it fell to its knees and he rolled out of the saddle that he understood that she had shot at him and hit his horse. He repeated this several times while he was trying to find cover by the dying horse so the cows wouldn’t trample him:  _ Phasma shot me!  _ He lay in the dust, stinking cows everywhere, trying to take it in.  _ Phasma shot me! _

He suddenly realized she might try again, and scrambled to his feet. He started running around the herd and found a small copse of trees where he could hide. He saw Phasma looking for him, but when she didn’t see him she went back to gathering the herd. There was another rider, he saw now, on the far side of the herd. A man dressed in black on a black horse. Hux wanted to think the all-black outfit was unnecessarily dramatic, but he did feel a hint of fear. Who was this man who had showed up like a ghost and stolen his herd? Were there more of them? 

It took a while, but finally Phasma and the rider in black had gathered all the cows that hadn’t drowned, and were starting to drive them away from the river. From what Hux could see there were only two of them, but then he saw the supply wagon moving out on the side of the herd and realized they either had the cook on their side too, or had killed him and put one of their own on the wagon. Hux left the shelter of the trees and walked up to his dead horse, now lying alone in a vast empty space full of muddy cow tracks and shit. It looked sad, and he was surprised to feel a hint of grief for it. It was just a horse, a means of transportation, but it had not deserved being shot down like that. 

He bent down and looked through his saddle bags. He emptied out anything he didn’t need and only kept his maps, a few knives, his emergency rations, his water bottle, a spare shirt and a blanket. He had two guns and some ammunition on his belt and didn’t think they’d gotten wet when he crossed the river. He threw the bags over his shoulder and started to walk in the tracks of the herd, the dust cloud far ahead like a beacon leading the way. 

Phasma and the man in black would regret ever messing with Armitage Hux! 


	5. Chapter 5

It was horribly hot and his feet were aching. The leather strip connecting the two saddle bags chafed his shoulders and ground dust and sand into the already irritated skin no matter how he carried them. The water bottle that he had filled before he left the river was empty, and he was constantly thirsty. 

He had thought the journey long and tough when he was on a horse, but that was nothing compared to walking. He would give anything now to have a horse again, and promised himself he soon would. The man in black had a nice-looking horse that would suit him fine once he’d killed the bastard. He would have to do it soon though. He had followed them on foot for almost two days now. His emergency supplies were out and he knew he wasn’t much of a hunter, so it wouldn’t be long until he was too weak to do anything. 

He wished he had thought to take some meat from one of the dead cows by the river. Preserving it would have delayed him, but it would have been worth it to have more food. The thought of slowly starving to death alone out here filled him with such terror he had to force himself not to think about it. He filled his head with thoughts of revenge instead. Detailed fantasies of violence that kept him on his feet and held the fear at bay. 

He’d spent the night under some bushes a mile or so from their camp, freezing but afraid to light a fire in case they could see the smoke. He had wanted to sneak up to the supply wagon and steal some food, but when he approached the camp he saw Phasma sitting on her horse, watching the surroundings. He wondered if the man in black forced her to night watch duty, or if she volunteered. The wagon was in the middle of their camp so he would have to go through her to get at it, and most likely her mysterious partner too. He hadn’t seen anyone else, so he assumed it was just the two of them and the cook. 

He had slunk back to his bushes, not ready to take them on yet. But tonight he had to. He hoped they would feel safe by now and think he was dead or had run away. Then he could catch them by surprise. He spent much of the day trying to come up with a plan while he was walking in the tracks from the herd. If he could just get close enough without being seen, he could kill whoever was on guard first. That would alert the others, unless he got close enough to use a knife. Perhaps an ambush? Either could work, he was a good shot and he could fight, but lacking help he would have to rely on luck and he hated having to do that. 

When they stopped mid-day to eat and rest he took his maps out and tried to figure out where he was. He scratched at the stubble on his cheeks, he hadn’t bothered to try and shave in the last few days, and studied the map. If he could catch them at a vulnerable place, like they had done at the river… His face burned with shame when he thought of that. If his companions had been more competent it might have gone better, but he couldn’t deny his own role in the disaster. He had been lax and unprepared, and there were no excuses for it. The problem now was that he didn’t know what way they were going. They had known his route and could ambush him easily because Phasma had betrayed him. All he could do was follow, and hope for a chance. 

His chance came when the sun was starting to sink and he was busy worrying about how he could shoot someone without coming close enough to let them know where he was. The revolver he had was worthless at anything but close range. He would need a sniper rifle, but of course hardware stores were scarce out here. 

A rustling sound near the bushes where he was hiding startled him, and when he slowly moved around to look he found the cook standing just a few steps away, relieving himself. Hux seized the opportunity without hesitation, ran up behind him with his knife drawn, and cut his throat. It was quick, silent, and enormously satisfying. He picked up the man’s hat and put it on, and after a moment’s thought he wrestled off the cook’s brown leather waistcoat as well, wiped splatters of blood off it and put it on. He didn’t look anything like the cook, but the hat hid his red hair and he hoped it would take the others a moment to realize he wasn’t the cook, especially in the dark. Even a few seconds could work to his advantage. 

He looked down at the body before leaving, and gave it a hard kick in the ribs. Something broke and made him smile. Then he set off towards the camp. With the cook gone, nobody was guarding the supply wagon. He walked up to it and hid behind it, peeking around the corner to see the camp. Phasma and the stranger were sitting at their fire in the fading light. Hux went to the back of the wagon, his hunger and exhaustion now forgotten in a frenzy of focused action. 

He carefully unloaded all the food he could reach without having to climb into the wagon, and carried it back to his little camp. Then he went back to the wagon, found matches and built a fire underneath the dry wooden bed of the wagon. While the fire slowly started to lick the underside of the wagon, he backed away from it and started to walk around the camp towards where the horses were hobbled. 

Phasma and the stranger were soon on their feet, alarm on their faces. If they suspected an ambush they were too worried about their food supply to do anything about it, just as Hux had hoped. While they were trying to simultaneously put out the fire and drag the food they could reach into safety, Hux started to sneak up on them from behind. He planned to shoot Phasma first, and then the stranger. But just as he raised his gun she turned and saw him. She ducked behind the burning wagon, and the stranger whirled around and fumbled for the gun at his belt. 

Hux ran around the wagon from the other side, hoping to catch Phasma and avoid the stranger at the same time. He saw her and fired a shot, but couldn’t tell if he had hit her. A shot that came back at him a moment later confirmed that she was still alive. He tried to see through the smoke to keep track of both his enemies in the light from the growing fire, but his eyes were stinging and tearing. On the other side of the wagon, away from camp, the herd was smelling smoke and starting to get restless. That was a problem - if they took off he might still get his revenge but he would have no herd. There was no way he could round them up again on his own, and that was when he finally saw the enormous flaw in his plan: it was impossible to herd cattle alone. Even if he succeeded in killing Phasma and the stranger, he would have to ride away empty-handed. 

A feeling of disappointment and anger at himself washed over him, so heavy he almost didn’t notice when Phasma stepped out from behind the wagon and pointed her gun at him. He threw himself to the ground just as she fired, but when he looked up again she was gone, replaced by hundreds of cows on the move. He looked in disbelief at the spot where she had been a moment ago. She had been trampled by her stolen cattle while trying to shoot him? That was just too good. Perhaps there was justice in the world after all. 

A shot from a different direction reminded him that there was still one enemy left, and Hux got up and ran to the horses. The smoke, darkness and restless cattle must have made him hard to see, because he managed to saddle the stranger’s beautiful black horse and mount it without being shot at. He whirled the horse around - what a thrill to be on horseback again! - and rode back towards the wagon. The cows had moved away and he could see Phasma’s broken body on the ground near the burning wagon. He felt absolutely nothing, except perhaps relief that she wouldn’t be shooting at him anymore. But on the other side of the wagon was the man in black, and Hux didn’t hesitate. He drew his gun and fired several shots while riding right at him. If he didn’t hit him with the gun, he could at least try to ride the bastard down. The man fired back, missed, and then jumped out of the way with an angry shout. Hux went on riding out of the camp, past the now scattered herd and into the darkness of the prairie. He would stay in safety until dawn and then go back and try to finish the man off. After that - well, he would cross that bridge when he got to it. For now he would enjoy his success and his new food supply. 


	6. Chapter 6

He woke suddenly just after dawn, horrified at having slept so long. The stranger could easily have found him and killed him in his sleep. Perhaps luck was on his side after all, but these mistakes would have to stop now if he was ever going to get anywhere in life, let alone get off this fucking prairie alive. 

He looked around his little camp but it didn’t look like anyone had been there during the night. The black horse was still there, and his new food supply was undisturbed. That was comforting, and after a quick breakfast he spent some time repacking his saddlebags to fit as much food as possible and making his weapons ready for what might happen today. When he was finished he saddled and mounted the horse, feeling triumphant for having the beautiful animal under him and for having taken something the man in black must value. 

He approached the cattle camp warily, looking for any signs of ambush. The wagon had burnt down to a sooty pile, still smoldering a little. The cattle were still around, but spread out over too large an area to be able to see them all. There was no sign of the man in black, but Hux saw Phasma’s body still lying on the ground. 

He looked up when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye, and noticed that the cows were moving on the far side of the herd. He couldn’t see why at first, but then he saw the rider. A man in black, but on a smaller brown horse, riding fast around the herd, then turning and going back again. Hux watched him in surprise. He was trying to round up the herd by himself? His ambition was impressive in it’s futile stupidity. Hux slowly rode closer, and drew his gun. He couldn’t hit anything at this distance, but he wanted to be prepared as soon as he got the chance. But as he approached the man, still busy trying to gather the cows, he had to admit to feeling some curiosity about him. Who could it be that had so expertly stolen his herd, and then gotten away when Hux tried to kill him? 

A cow broke out from the little group the man had rounded up, and he turned abruptly and came riding after it, towards Hux. They were about 50 yards apart when the man spotted him and stopped his horse. They stood for a moment just looking at each other. Hux could see that the stranger was tall, too big for the brown horse he rode now. That made Hux feel even more pleased for sitting on his big black horse. He imagined that he could see the anger and frustration in the other man’s posture. Then, surprisingly, the stranger rode closer. Hux trained his gun on him, but didn’t fire. When he was about 20 yards away, the stranger stopped again, and now Hux could see him better. He had black hair to his shoulders, a scar on his cheek and was still dressed all in black, including the hat. He looked oddly familiar, and Hux tried to think where he might have seen him - in the army? - when the man spoke: 

“Don’t be an idiot”. 

He had a deep voice and sounded calm, condescendingly so. Hux looked at him in shock, but kept the gun raised. 

“What?” he said. 

“If you shoot me, what will you do then? You can’t drive the herd by yourself.”

“You mean like you’re trying to do?”

The man looked around at the herd and shrugged. 

“I thought I’d try to get at least a few, but it’s hard work. My horse is tired already.”

“You should have thought about that before you stole them from me” Hux said.

“It was like stealing candy from a child” the man said and smiled. 

Hux cocked the gun and wanted to pull the trigger, but something stopped him. He felt angry with himself. If he just shot the bastard he could try and save whatever could be saved and get out of here, do something else. The herd was already lost, what was the point of arguing with a cattle thief? Then he realized where he’d seen the man before, and almost dropped his gun. 

“Kylo Ren?” he asked. “The outlaw?”

Ren looked pleased, and Hux tried to remember what else had been on the poster he had seen with Phasma. There had been a drawing that was actually quite the likeness, which was why he had seemed so familiar. 

Suddenly, here was an opportunity. Ren was wanted by the law, and if Hux brought him in there would be a reward. Much more money than he got for driving a herd of cattle. Ren looked at him, and Hux wondered if he knew what he was thinking. He had the kind of eyes that seem to look right through you, and Hux didn’t like them. 

“I don’t care who you are” he said. “But we’ve got a stalemate. If you turn your back and ride away, I’ll shoot you. I suspect you’ll do the same to me. So what do we do?”

Ren looked at him for a long time. The moment drew itself out through the silence of the prairie, only broken now and then by the sounds of cows and the wind in his ears. Hux waited, ready with his gun. If Ren tried anything funny, he’d have a hole in his head. 

“Let’s drive the herd together to Dagobah and sell it” Ren said at last. “Split the profits.”

Hux laughed.

“Why would I work together with a thief?”

“You burned down my wagon, killed my companions and scared the cattle off. Perhaps we’re even?”

“You mean the wagon and the companions you stole from me?”

Hux hand trembled around the gun. He wanted so badly to shoot the man. Not kill him yet, he was too intrigued, but hurt him. Perhaps take out a knee, or a foot, or clip his shoulder. It would make him feel so good to see Ren suffer. 

“Fine” Ren said at last, his voice still calm. “I’m going to take what cattle I can and ride off. You do what you want.”

“I’ll shoot you.”

“No you won’t. You would have shot me already. You know I’m right and the only way we can turn this disaster into some profit is to cooperate. But you’ll have to get over your hurt little feelings first and start acting like a man.”

With that, Ren turned and slowly rode away. Hux hand shook so much he wouldn’t have been able to hit him anyway, and he lowered the gun, beside himself with frustration and anger. Hurt little feelings?? He raised the gun again to try and shoot the bastard dead. The wanted poster had said dead or alive. He could strap the corpse to a horse and just take it with him and collect the reward. He started to squeeze the trigger but then wondered where the closest town could be that had a marshal. It must be days if not weeks away. Travelling alone with a corpse that far was a bit much to stomach. If he could get Ren to Dagobah alive and then either shoot him there or hand him over still alive to the marshals, that would be a lot better. 

Hux set his horse in motion and cantered up to Ren until he was beside him. Ren drew his gun with incredible speed, but Hux had holstered his. Ren relaxed and put his gun away too. 

“Fine” Hux said. “We drive the herd to Dagobah and split the profits. Truce.”

He held out his hand. Ren looked at it, seemed to think, and then took it. His hand was big and warm. And strong. 

“You go that way” Ren said and pointed. “I go this way, and we meet over there.”

Hux nodded and set the horse in motion. He didn’t mind taking orders from Ren yet. Sooner or later they would have to work out who would be the boss of this absurd outfit, but for now the task that loomed ahead of them was too great and exhausting to bicker over leadership. Hux looked at the vast area the herd had spread over, and sighed heavily. 

Great. Here we go again. 


	7. Chapter 7

It took them all day, and he couldn’t be sure if they found all the animals, but when the sun started to sink they had gathered the herd. Hux was so exhausted he wanted to cry, and Ren’s face was ashen even underneath the layer of dust that made his clothes look a brownish grey rather than black. Sweat had run across his face and made brown tracks in the dust. Hux didn’t think he looked much better himself. As his shaving mirror had previously informed him, the reddish brown color of the dust tended to blend with his own colors making him look like he was made entirely of dust. 

If they were both tired, the horses were even worse. After settling on a place to make camp, they spent a long time silently rubbing down their horses and checking their legs and hooves for injuries before letting them out to graze and drink in the small stream by the camp. Hux caught Ren glaring at him a few times while they were tending to the horses, but he hadn’t said anything yet about wanting the black horse back. It was only reasonable that they trade, since the brown horse was too small for Ren, but the black horse was a prize and Hux wanted to keep it. If Ren wanted it he would have to fight for it, or give him something in return. 

After they were done with the horses Ren started making a fire. Hux sat down and watched him, thinking he should start preparing dinner but too tired to get up again and get the food. Ren seemed to think the same because when the fire had started to take, he too sat still and just watched it. None of them said anything. What was there to say? They were enemies forced to work together, it was hardly the time for small talk. 

Finally, hunger overcame fatigue and he got up and got his saddle bags with the food. They continued to sit in silence while darkness fell and their dinner cooked on the fire. Over their heads the sky came alive with stars, and there was something in the silence and stillness by the fire, food almost ready, cattle calm and settled down for the night, that was almost beautiful. There was none of the drama and insecurity he’d had with his former companions. With Ren he knew exactly where he had him. He was a treacherous, murderous bastard who would take any opportunity to cheat him, and there was an odd comfort in that. No play at camaraderie, just plain simple hostility temporarily kept in check because, for now, they needed each other. 

When they had eaten Ren washed the dishes, still without a word. Then he went to his pack to get the tent, and said to Hux as if in passing: 

“There’s only one tent. You sleep outside.”

“What? No, you can sleep outside.”

“Where is  _ your  _ tent?”

Hux opened his mouth to answer and realized his tent had been in the supply wagon. That he had set fire to. Shit. 

“Fine” he said. “But we get a new tent in the nearest town.”

“Whatever you want.”

Ren set up the tent with the ease of long practice, disappeared inside and closed the flap. Hux remained by the fire, feeling more tired than ever. This was going to be a long drive. 

Hux woke up the next morning feeling stiff and sore after a cold night worrying about getting a knife in his back. Ren looked only marginally more rested and Hux had a fleeting moment when he could see both of them as they might look from the outside. Two angry miserable fuck-ups trying to save a situation that they had created themselves with mutual destruction. Then the moment passed and he just felt tired. He wished Ren could fuck off and leave him alone, but then he would have to let go of the herd too, and then what? He would come back to Washington with even less money than when he had left, and his prospects would look even worse. He thought about going back to the army to beg for a position - any position as long as they took him in and gave him a purpose again - but he wasn’t nearly desperate enough for that. He couldn’t live with the humiliation. His best bet was still to try and get the cattle to Dagobah to fulfill his contract and hand Ren over to the marshals so he could collect the reward. 

The horse situation culminated abruptly when they were finished with breakfast and were starting to pack up. Hux was finished first since he didn’t have a tent to pack, but when he started to saddle the black horse Ren came up to him and simply pushed him away. Hux stared at him in surprise while Ren fastened the saddle and then started to strap his things to it. 

“What the fuck?” he said finally. “Get away from the horse.”

“It’s my horse” Ren said with his back to Hux. 

“Not anymore. I took it in compensation for the herd you stole from me.”

“You did. And now I’m reclaiming it.”

“No you’re not.”

Hux walked up to him, ready to fight, but some of the aggression drained out of him when he came close and realized just how big Ren was. Hux was above average height and was used to looking down at other men, but Ren towered over him. Still, if he gave in now Ren would be able to dominate him, and that was unacceptable. He drove a fist into Ren’s stomach and followed up by hooking his foot around the other man’s leg to pull him off balance. But Ren was too heavy and recovered too fast, and before he knew what had happened Hux found himself on the ground with Ren leaning over him. 

“Hit me again and it’s the last thing you do” Ren growled. 

Hux punched him in the face. It was stupid, because he was on his back in the dirt already, but it was so satisfying to see the shock on Ren’s face, and then blood dripping from his nose. Ren looked furious and raised his hand to hit back, but his anger made him clumsy and Hux managed to roll away and scramble to his feet. Ren’s fist hit him in the side of the head. It was a hard blow, like being kicked by a horse, and Hux went down again. As the first disorientation passed he grabbed Ren’s clothes and dragged him down. They rolled in the dirt for a while, exchanging punches until both of them were dirty, sweaty and bleeding. Then finally Ren got the advantage with Hux yet again on his back and Ren holding him down with all his weight. It was like being pinned down by a fallen ox, and Hux knew he was beaten. 

“Fine” he said and tried to sound unfazed. “Take the black horse. The other one is too small for you anyway.”

He wanted to finish with an insult, but he couldn’t think of one. Ren had so obviously beaten him and there was no point pretending like he hadn’t. Ren let go and got to his feet, wiping his bloody nose on his sleeve. Hux got up too, brushed himself off and found a handkerchief in his pocked to wipe blood from his face because he wasn’t a fucking barbarian to use his clothes. They each went to their horses, who looked at them with mild surprise at the change of riders, and finished the packing without a word. 

Despite the brutal beginning of the day, the rest of it went surprisingly smooth. The question of leadership had yet to be determined, and until then they worked well together, each doing what needed to be done to get the cows going in the right direction. It’s not exactly a difficult job, Hux thought. As long as you have half a brain, and he had to admit Kylo seemed to have that and more. Besides, positioned on each side of the big herd as they were, it was hard to fight. 

The next few days continued mostly the same way. Occasional arguments broke out whenever they thought differently about something, but eventually settled and they lapsed back into moody silence. Hux found himself stewing in a kind of constant anger mingled with reluctant respect. Ren was in no way a competent cowboy and would do best in letting Hux take charge, but he was an impressive man and had an air of barely contained violence that had Hux thinking twice before taking an argument too far. The temptation to just shoot him when he wasn’t looking, or slitting his throat in the middle of the night, arose several times a day but he made himself wait. 

  
  



	8. Chapter 8

It was a bleak and grey morning with the threat of rain hanging in low, dark clouds. Hux reluctantly rolled out of his blankets. He had gotten used to sleeping outdoors and had found that stripping down to his long underwear and then covering himself with at least two blankets worked best to keep the night chill away. That and selecting a good place to sleep out of the wind. 

He got to his feet with one blanket still hanging over his shoulders, and was just sticking his feet in his boots when he noticed that Ren was out of his tent. He was dressed and just stood there, his gaze locked somewhere around Hux’s midsection. Hux looked back, and Ren looked away, with a strange look on his face. Hux looked down to see what might have attracted his attention, and noticed just how much of his morning erection was visible through the fabric of his underwear. He wrapped the blanket tight around himself and felt his cheeks burn. Shit. He rushed into the bushes to piss and then put his clothes on with his back to Ren, too embarrassed to even look at him. 

The day proved uneventful and he had plenty of time to think about what had happened. He tried to tell himself that Ren was a man too and knew very well what a morning erection was, but what he kept coming back to was - why had he looked? Why hadn’t he had an impulse to look away as quickly as possible, just as Hux’s impulse was to hide? 

When he had turned the events over for hours without getting anywhere his thoughts started wandering further back, to the cattle drives he had done when he was younger. There had only been two, and the last one had been together with an older cowboy named Orson Krennic. It hadn’t been a big drive and the two of them had been enough. It had started innocently enough, but it wasn’t long until Krennic started to talk about what a shame it was that there were no women around and how hard it was on a man to go without a woman for so long. Then he started to hint that there were things men could do together to cope with that loss. Hux didn’t understand at first, but he was young and horny and so he got curious, and when Krennic offered to show him he agreed. 

The old man’s caresses freaked him out at first, but Krennic explained to him with patronizing patience, as if explaining something that should be blindingly obvious if Hux hadn’t been so stupid, that this was what cowboys did. It was only natural when you spent so much time alone with another man and no other options, and wasn’t a sin at all. Actually, he said, God liked how they sought comfort in each other. Love thy neighbor and all that. When they got back to civilization all would be forgiven and forgotten, but it was probably best not to speak about it to other cowboys, since most didn’t like to talk about it even if they all did it. 

And Hux had learned to like it, once he got over the mental resistance and saw it as plain physical pleasure, just a small step up from masturbation. Sometimes he felt pressured by Krennic to go along with it, but most of the time he agreed. 

These thoughts wouldn’t leave him when he and Ren made their camp that night. He wondered if Ren thought about it too, if that was why he had stared like that. Surely he had done similar things, and if he hadn’t, perhaps Hux could show him. 

It was, however, not the easiest thing to bring up. They sat in silence at the campfire and he thought furiously to think of an opening. Then it came to him. 

“A shame about Phasma” he said. 

Ren looked at him in surprise, torn out of God knew what thoughts. 

“Her death” Hux clarified. “I didn’t want her to die, even though she betrayed me.”

Ren looked thoughtful. Then he frowned. 

“She was a backstabbing bitch” he muttered. “She would have betrayed me too eventually.”

Hux shrugged.

“Perhaps. But she was beautiful.”

Ren looked like he wanted to disagree but had to admit Hux was right. He shrugged. 

“It would have been nice to have a woman around now” Hux said. 

Ren snorted. It wasn’t a laugh exactly, rather an expression of humorous scorn, but it was the friendliest Hux had ever seen him. 

“She would never have lain with  _ you _ ” he said. 

“Did she lie with you?” Hux shot back, and grinned when he saw Ren’s face. “She didn’t, huh? Too bad she’s not here now, we could probably get her to… accomodate us, if we worked together.”

Ren almost smiled. Then he looked at Hux, and then at the fire. 

“There are things men can do, you know?” Hux said, trying to sound casual. “When there are no women around. You know what I mean?”

Ren looked at him and shook his head. 

“Of course you do” Hux said. “All cowboys do. I’m sure treacherous cattle thieves are no different.”

Ren looked confused. 

“What are you talking about?” he said. 

Hux sighed, as if Ren was endlessly stupid and naive. 

“I’m talking about pleasuring each other, to make the absence of women easier to bear. You mean you’ve never tried it?”

“Of course not” Ren said with his voice and his face full of disgust. “I’m not like that.”

“Neither am I. But I’m practical. It’s just like pleasuring yourself, but with a helping hand so to speak. Everyone does it.”

Hux felt a moment of panic. Why was he sitting here trying to talk Ren into doing things with him? He wasn’t even sure he wanted this, he just wanted… something. He felt relieved when Ren said: 

“You’re full of shit.”

Hux shrugged, trying to hide how uncomfortable he was. 

“Fine” he said. “Do what you want.”

Silence fell. Eventually Ren got up and went into his tent. Hux put some more wood on the fire, banking it up to last as long as possible, and unrolled his blankets. He had just drifted off to sleep when something woke him up. A dark shadow was standing over him, and he reached for his knife. 

“Put the knife away” Ren said. 

“What the fuck?”

Hux sat up, his heart pounding.

“Show me.”

“What?”

The fire was still burning, but it was too dark to see Ren’s face. 

“Show me. The things you talked about. That all cowboys do.”

Hux froze somewhere between excitement and terror. He sat there looking at the dark shadow of Ren looming over him, wondering what to do. 


	9. Chapter 9

Before Hux knew what he was doing, he found himself getting to his feet and following Ren inside the tent. It was dark in there, and smelled slightly damp. 

“I’ll light the lamp” Ren said, his voice unreadable. 

“Fine” Hux said. 

His voice sounded feeble and scared and he wondered what he had gotten himself into. Why had he said all those things to Ren earlier? He hadn’t thought it through at all, but apparently his body had because it was responding now. He couldn’t believe it when he felt himself getting hard. How was that even possible when the rest of him felt part disgusted and part terrified at the thought of doing anything intimate with Ren? 

But he waited while Ren fumbled with the matches and finally got the lamp lit. They were both kneeling in the little tent, facing each other. Ren looked at Hux. 

“Begin” he said and it sounded like an order. 

Hux hesitated. He didn’t want to touch Ren. He didn’t want to take his clothes off and he didn’t want to see Ren without his clothes either. But he did want to have an orgasm, and the thought of turning Ren into a quivering mess of pleasure in his hands the way he had sometimes managed with Krennic made him stiffen even further. So he took a deep breath and drew himself up to look like he knew what he was doing. 

He moved closer, shuffling on his knees, until their knees touched. Ren flinched, but didn’t move back. In the lamplight Hux could see that Ren was also wearing his union suit underwear and looked considerably less intimidating than he normally did in his black clothes. But his eyes were intense, staring holes in Hux’s head. 

“I’m going to have to touch you” Hux said. “I assume you’ve been with a woman?”

“Of course” Ren hissed, in a way that made Hux sigh on the inside. So he hadn’t. This was going to be difficult. 

“Great” Hux said with pretend cheer. “You’ll recognize this then. It’s just the same. Some preparations to get things going, so to speak, and then… we go.”

“You won’t be doing anything funny” Ren grumbled. 

“Shut up” Hux snapped. “You asked for this.”

Ren said nothing, but he closed his mouth and didn’t object when Hux started to unbutton his suit from the neck and all the way down. He put a hand to Ren’s chest and was surprised by how soft and warm the skin was. He had somehow expected it to be cool and clammy, because Ren was such a creep. But with his hand on the man’s chest he could feel Ren’s fast breathing and pounding heart. He moved the hand slowly, turning the first contact into a gentle caress. He trailed his hand up to Ren’s neck and touched the thin soft skin there. Ren let out a small gasp and closed his eyes, and Hux felt a moment of pity. Had anyone ever touched this guy with a gentle hand? Hux wasn’t particularly experienced in the intimacy department either, but he had had a couple of relationships, and although Krennic hadn’t always been kind he had taught him a lot. 

Hux added the other hand and used both of them to gently caress Ren’s torso. Ren was tense, almost vibratingly so, but he accepted the touch and kept his eyes closed. Hux touched his face. Cheeks, chin, and then lips. Another small gasp escaped between them, and Hux felt himself getting into it. He slowly moved his hand downwards over Ren’s stomach and then, on the outside of his clothes, down to his crotch. Ren was hard as wood, and Hux felt his spirits lift. Perhaps this wouldn’t be so difficult after all. 

“There are different ways we can do this” Hux said and gently massaged the hard bulge with his hand. “Hand, mouth, and...other ways. I think we’ll start with hand. I do you first, and then you do me. Deal?”

Ren opened his eyes, and they were like pools of fire. He nodded, his breath coming fast now.

“Do you want to lie down?” Hux asked. 

Ren looked suspicious. 

“It’s up to you” Hux said. “It might be more comfortable…”

“I’ll sit here.”

“Fine.”

He went on softly kneading, trying not to think about how he was almost touching this bastard’s penis. He should rip it off and let Ren bleed out right there in the tent. Somehow the anger turned him on and it started to feel uncomfortable. He wanted to touch himself at the same time, but thought he should stay focused on Ren for now. You never knew what the asshole might be up to. Ren closed his eyes again, breathing fast, his face an expression of reluctant pleasure. Hux moved his hand inside his clothes, determined to make him completely helpless. Ren made a small noise like a faint whine when Hux gripped his penis and started slowly to move his hand back and forth. 

“Oh God” he groaned and put his hands on the ground to support himself. 

Hux said nothing, just kept a steady rhythm going and kept an eye on the man’s face. It was extremely satisfying to see every emotion written clearly on it. If there was something opposite of a poker face, that was Ren. 

It didn’t take long for him to come. A short grunt and then he slumped his head forward, panting. 

“Your turn” Hux said. 

Ren raised his head again and looked at Hux, his eyes dim with pleasure. For a moment he was almost beautiful. Then he nodded and awkwardly put his hands on Hux. 

“You can skip the foreplay and go straight to…” Hux said and nodded towards his crotch. “I’m ready.”

Ren nodded again and Hux helped him unbutton the suit, in a hurry now to end his suffering. Ren’s hands were huge and strong, and Hux felt more than a little frightened when it closed around him, making him feel vulnerable and exposed. 

“Not so hard” he mumbled.

“Sorry.”

That little word was so unexpected Hux almost lost his focus, but then Ren found a good grip and started moving, and everything else slid out of existence. The disgust he had felt at being intimate with Ren was still there, but it seemed to add fuel to his desire rather than taking anything away. He gave himself over to his revulsion, his disgust with himself, with Ren, with the whole situation, and came with a long groan. 

When he opened his eyes Ren was still sitting opposite him, looking down at his hand that had cum on it. It was as if he had never seen it before and didn’t know what to do with it. Perhaps he hadn’t. 

“Just wipe it off” Hux said. 

Ren started, as if shocked out of thoughts, and then started rummaging through his pack with his other hand until it came out with a handkerchief. He wiped his hand off and then his privates with exaggerated care, then looked at Hux in confusion for a moment before finding another handkerchief and handing it to him. It wasn’t exactly clean, but Hux didn’t have anything better at hand, so he accepted it in silence and cleaned himself off. 

“Well?” Hux said finally. 

Ren looked at him. His face was unreadable. Then finally he nodded. 

“You were right” he said. “It felt good.”

Hux nodded too and then started to crawl out of the tent to go back to his blankets outside. Part of him wanted to ask if he could stay in the tent, while another, bigger, part just wanted to get as far away from Ren as possible. 

He lay in his blankets stewing in a mix of shame and the remaining pleasure from the orgasm, and then fell asleep. 


	10. Chapter 10

Neither of them said anything the next morning. They went about their breakfast and breaking camp like they always did, and then set off. Hux thought about the night before, but didn’t know quite how he felt about it. He did want to do it again, though, and apparently so did Ren because when they camped that night he invited Hux to stay in his tent. Hux hesitated. He wanted to get in from the cold, but sharing a tent with Ren felt like crossing a line somehow. Still, the lure of sex and warmth was too tempting, and he agreed, making sure it was obvious how reluctantly he did so. 

If Ren had been awkward and tense the night before, he was much more eager now. Apparently a quick study, he took over the foreplay and ran his big hands over Hux’s body with surprising tenderness. Those hands felt like they could squeeze the life out of him whenever they wanted, and Hux hadn’t forgotten that they were still mortal enemies. He could just hope that Ren wanted to get off more than he wanted Hux dead. It helped that he felt the same way himself. The need to put a bullet in Ren had decreased significantly. 

They jerked each other off with slightly more abandon than the night before, and then lay side by side in the little tent in the darkness trying to sleep. Hux wanted to get away but there was nowhere to go and he hated Ren for making him feel so conflicted. Ren seemed no less tense, he lay still but his light irregular breathing revealed that he was still awake. Finally Hux fell asleep from exhaustion. If Ren wanted to murder him in his sleep, let him. 

A strange sort of truce settled between them over the following few days. They rode in silence all day, but in the evening when the herd was settled and the dishes washed they crawled into Ren’s tent. The disgust Hux had felt at first gradually faded. He still didn’t like Ren in any way, and certainly didn’t trust him, but his body grew less revolting and his touch less threatening while the pleasure grew more intense. 

They stopped in a town with a corral for the herd, and decided to stay at the local hotel for the night. 

“How much money do we have?” Hux asked as they were looking over the room prices. Due to lack of competition, the rooms were hideously overpriced. 

“I don’t know how much money  _ you _ have” Ren said. “I have enough for a room.”

“I do too” Hux said icily. “It’s just that they’re ridiculously expensive.”

Ren nodded reluctantly. 

“They are” he said. “Perhaps we should share.”

He said it as if it meant nothing, just a way to save money, and Hux shrugged as if it meant nothing more to him. 

“Why not” he said. “Just make sure there are two beds.”

Ren nodded and went up to the counter to talk to the receptionist. 

“Is it your herd? In the corral?”

A good looking young man with dark hair and lively eyes came up to them at the bar at the local saloon. It wasn’t particularly clean, but the whiskey wasn’t bad. 

“Yes” Hux said. “Why?”

“Oh, no reason. Just making conversation.”

He smiled, looking so easy-going that Hux thought he must want something. No one was that friendly for no reason.

“I’m Poe” he said. 

Ren said nothing. Hux looked at him, and then at Poe. 

“Hux” he said. 

“Pleased to meet you, mr Hux” Poe said and extended a hand. Hux didn’t take it, and Poe took it back, looking mildly annoyed.

“I’m quite the hand at driving cattle myself” he said. 

Here it comes, Hux thought. He’s looking for work. 

“Good for you” he said. Ren still said nothing. 

“If you need a hand…” Poe said. “It just so happens that I’m available at the moment.”

“We don’t need anyone” Ren said. 

Hux opened his mouth, and then closed it again. They did need help with the herd, two wasn’t enough should anything happen. But adding Poe would ruin the strange dynamic they had gotten themselves into, and he wasn’t sure he wanted that. In a way it would be a relief to have another person on the team, but then they would go back to being just enemies. 

Poe looked hurt. 

“All right” he said. “I understand. Let me know if you change your mind, I’m here tomorrow as well.”

“Yeah” Hux said. “So, what brings you here?”

They talked about work for a while. At least Hux and Poe talked, Ren staring in silence, slowly nursing his drink. Poe tried to include him in the conversation at first, but soon gave up. 

“It’s a shame there are no whores in this town” Poe said after a while. “I could do with some company. It’s tough to be on the road for so long, if you know what I mean.”

Hux nodded, but Ren just shrugged and Poe decided to confront him. 

“You don’t think so?” he asked. “Or perhaps you have a sweetheart waiting somewhere that you’re saving yourself for?”

Hux grinned. Ren looked like the last person in the world that any sweetheart would want to wait for. Ren ignored the implied insult. 

“You know how things are done” he said with the typical tone of voice he almost always had, as if the person he was talking to wasn’t particularly interesting and he had to make an effort to bother speaking. “When there are no women at hand.”

The young cowboy looked at him, puzzled. 

“I’m not sure what you mean” he said. 

“You use whatever’s at hand” Ren said with a slight nod towards Hux before Hux had a chance to stop him. 

Poe stared at them in confusion. Then it dawned on him and his face distorted with shock and disgust. 

“What, you mean… you two? Really?”

He pointed at Hux and Ren. Hux sighed, wanting to defend his honor but unable to summon the energy. What did it matter anyway? Ren seemed unfazed. 

“That’s how it’s done” he said. 

“No! It isn’t! That’s disgusting!”

He backed away as if he might catch something contagious if he got too close. Ren looked at Hux, who shrugged and leaned his forehead in his hand. Ren looked back at the cowboy, held him in his gaze for a few moments and then, to Hux’s surprise, smiled. 

“You don’t know what you’re missing” he said, and then leaned back, visibly pleased with himself. 

The other man paled. He looked from Ren to Hux and then back again, doubt flickering through his eyes. Hux nodded at him. 

“Whatever, man” the stranger said and got up. “I have to go. Take care.”

He left, and Hux and Ren were left by themselves. 

After they finished the drinks they went up to their room, pulled the two beds together and had sex like they never had before. Hux found to his surprise that he didn’t mind much at all. 


	11. Chapter 11

Hux dreamed of a storm, thunder booming loud enough to rattle the windows in the house he had grown up in. He was so scared he hid under the dining room table, and his father was shouting at him to stop with that nonsense and behave like a man. 

He woke up in the dark tent and realized the sound was still there, but it wasn’t thunder. 

“The herd!”

He shook Ren awake and stumbled out of the tent without bothering to get dressed. Outside was chaos. It was still dark, but the horizon was faintly tinged with the coming of dawn. The air was thick with dust and the stench of cattle, and the noise of hooves and bellowing cows was deafening. He heard someone shout and saw a rider off to one side of the herd. 

“Not again” he moaned and turned to the tent. “Ren! They’re stealing the herd!!” 

Ren stumbled out of the tent too, in his underwear and his hair a mess. He looked almost cute. 

“What the fuck?” he said.   
  
“They’re stealing the herd!”

Ren’s confused look turned into one of rage in merely a second. It was a terrifying change and suddenly there was nothing cute about him at all. 

“Get the horses” he said. “I’ll find the guns.”

He went back into the tent while Hux ran over to where they had tethered their horses. They were still there, and Hux fumbled with saddles in the dark while the nervous horses jumped around, pulling at their ropes. Ren showed up behind him and Hux nearly jumped out of his skin before he realized who it was. 

“Here” Ren said, tossed Hux his gun belt and took over saddling the big black horse. 

The herd was moving away by the time they were done and mounted. 

“We go around the herd and meet on the other side. Shoot anyone you see!” Ren yelled, and Hux felt no need to argue. He put his heels to his horse and took off, gun ready. 

It reminded him of the army; the chaos, thousands of struggling bodies, not sure where the enemy was or what was going on. Hux rode along the herd, dodging stray cows and holding on to his horse for dear life, and felt something surprisingly close to joy. It wasn’t long until he spotted another rider, and after making sure it wasn’t Ren he raised the gun, aimed and fired. He missed, but fired again while riding closer. The rider didn’t notice the first shot but heard the second and turned around, but before he could get his gun out Hux shot again and he tumbled out of the saddle. Hux rode him down to make sure he wouldn’t get up again, and then rode on looking for more. 

A cow bumped into his horse and it swayed, struggling to keep its balance. Hux realized he would rather jump than fall and get trapped under the horse, so he leapt out of the saddle and tried to keep out of the way of the cows while his horse regained its balance and he could mount again. He steered clear of the herd and tried to round it, then had to duck when he heard shots. He tried to stay low but also look around. Who was shooting, and who was being shot at? He heard a scream of rage somewhere further back of the herd and thought he recognized Ren’s voice. Was he shot, or was it just a battle cry? Hux went the other way, rounding the herd from the front, trying to slow its pace in the progress. A shot went off and he heard the bullet whistle past him. He ducked behind the horses head and tried to aim, but couldn’t see anything at first in the dust and the faint light. Then he made out the shape of a rider, and fired. The horse went down and Hux rode closer to see where the rider went. Another shot grazed his arm, and he gasped in pain. He rode even closer, and now he could see clearly. The other man raised his gun again, but it clicked, and Hux shot him easily. 

He looked around, heart pounding in his chest and his ears, like a fast drumbeat taking over the world. He couldn’t see any other riders. 

“Ren!” he yelled. 

There was no reply so he rode around the herd, looking. He saw a loose horse, but it wasn’t Ren’s. Then he saw a figure standing in the dust behind the herd kicking something on the ground. He rode closer, gun ready, but then saw that it was Ren. It was hard to mistake him for anyone else, his gun belt fastened around the waist of his union suit, his black hair a mess and no hat. He looked ridiculous, and absolutely lethal, kicking and stomping in mindless rage at a body lying on the ground. Hux dismounted and looked at what was left of whoever it had been. 

“Ren, he’s dead.”

Ren screamed and kicked harder. Hux realized with horror that there were tears on his cheeks, making traces in the dust covering his face. He fought the impulse to leave and instead grabbed Ren’s arm. Ren moved to punch him but stopped himself when he saw who it was. The fight went out of him and his shoulders dropped, his whole body seeming to sag. He wiped his face on his sleeve, smearing damp dust around his face. 

“Is it over?” Hux asked. 

Ren nodded. 

“I killed the other one.”

“I killed two” Hux said. “What did this one do that made you so furious?”

They looked down at the shapeless mess of a body on the ground. 

“He killed my horse” Ren said, his voice low and almost devoid of emotion. 

“Oh.”

They stood in silence, unable to take their eyes off the corpse. 

“It was a nice horse” Hux said, wishing he could have thought of something better to say.

“Yeah.”

The silence stretched out, getting increasingly awkward as Hux felt the joy of battle drain out of him and instead became aware of a dull throbbing pain in his arm. He looked down at it and noticed that the sleeve of his underwear was wet with blood. He looked at it for a moment as if it didn’t belong to him, didn’t concern him. Ren turned to look too, and startled. 

“Hux, you’re hurt!” he said. 

“I think it just grazed me.”

“You still have to bandage it. We should go back to camp.”

“The herd….”

“They’re calm now, they can manage.”

Hux nodded. He went to climb onto his horse again and noticed how weak he felt. 

“Go on ahead, I’ll just find another horse” Ren said, his tone practical as if his tantrum over the loss of his horse was already forgotten. Perhaps it was. 

Hux rode back to camp, left his horse still saddled but pulled the bridle off so it could eat. It wandered down to the stream and Hux crawled into the tent to try and find something to use as a bandage. He was feeling lightheaded now and the pain seemed to be growing steadily worse. They’d had medical supplies on the wagon, but of course that was gone now. He took his only spare union suit from his pack and changed from the dirty bloody one. It was hard, he was clumsy and his arm sent nauseating jolts of pain through him every time he moved it, but he finally managed to get the suit on at least up to his chest. He left the arms bare so he could do the bandage first, but had to stop and rest. 

He was fumbling with his knife, trying to cut strips from his discarded underwear to use as bandages, when Ren came into the tent. Dawn was on the way now and it was light enough to see quite well. Ren started rummaging through his pack to find clothes, then stopped and looked at Hux’s pathetic attempts to cut strips with one hand. 

“You should clean that first” he said. “Or you’ll get the fever.”

“You should shut the fuck up” Hux growled, sweating with pain and frustration.

Ren hesitated, then turned to his pack and started getting dressed. When he was finished Hux had made little progress. Ren looked at him. 

“You could help!” Hux finally blurted out. “Don’t just sit there!”

“Fine, fine” Ren said, sounding unusually subdued. “What do you need?”

“Water, soap, and then help me cut these stupid things.”

“All right. I’ll get water.”

Hux waited, too tired to be able to struggle with the bandages anymore. Ren could do it, or the arm could just fall off, what did he care? 

After a while Ren came back with a bowl of water, icy cold straight from the creek, and a sliver of soap. He’d even gotten his shaving towel. Hux was about to point out that there was going to be blood on it, but then didn’t bother. The cold water turned out to be a blessing though, as it numbed the pain a bit when he washed the wound. It wasn’t deep, but looked bad enough now that he looked at it closely. Ren watched him clean it, looking pale and slightly disgusted. 

“Cut strips for the bandage” Hux ordered him, surprised to see him obey without objection. 

“Do you need help wrapping it?” Ren asked. 

“No” Hux said. “You can start breakfast.”

Ren nodded and disappeared out of the tent. When Hux was finished with the bandage and had managed to dress himself he could already smell coffee from outside. He stepped outside into the early morning sunlight. His arm still hurt but it felt good to have it bandaged and taken care of, and to be properly dressed again. He couldn’t believe they had ridden around shooting cattle thieves in their underwear. 

“What’s so funny?” Ren asked, and Hux realized he was grinning. 

Hux sat down next to him by the fire. 

“I was thinking about those thieves, getting killed by crazy men in underwear and gun belts. What a way to go.”

Ren smiled, and then actually laughed. The sound made Hux’s stomach tickle. They looked at each other and laughed again, louder. 

“That’s not quite the look I was going for” Ren said. “Mysterious stranger in union suit is not quite as intimidating as mysterious stranger in black.”

They both burst out laughing again, and laughed until they were spent. A warm, pleasant feeling spread through Hux’s body, dulling the pain. Ren reached for the coffee pot and poured two cups, then served the oatmeal. 

“Is your name really Kylo Ren?” Hux asked and accepted his bowl and cup gratefully. He was starving.

“No” Ren said. “It’s Ben Solo.”

Hux looked at him. He didn’t know why he had asked, he hadn’t expected an honest answer. Or an answer at all for that matter. Ben Solo. It sounded so… normal. 

“Why did you change it?” he asked. 

“Long story. Fell out with my father.”

“I know that story” Hux muttered. 

Ren looked at him. 

“Is your name really Hux?”

“It is. Wish I could change it too and not have to carry his name around.”

“What is it more than Hux?”

“Armitage.”

It felt good, telling Ren his name. 

“Armitage” Ren said. “Sounds nice. Fancy.”

Hux smiled. 

“You can use it if you want” he said. “Surely we’re on first name basis by now?.”

“Sure. But don’t call me Ben.”

“Kylo?”

Kylo nodded. Hux raised his cup of coffee towards him. 

“Here’s to awful fathers, may they rot in hell.”

Kylo grinned and toasted him. 

“Cheers” he said. 

They sat in silence for a while, having their breakfast and perhaps thinking about the past. 

“We should check on the herd” Hux said at last. 

“I’ll do it. Get some rest.”

“All right.”

He watched Kylo get to his feet and go over to his new horse. Then he crawled into the tent, leaving the dishes for Kylo to take care of when he got back. 


End file.
